Doctors get political

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that doctors are getting more financially involved in politics. The study, which examines financial contributions between 1991 and 2012 to presidential and congressional elections as well as to party organizations and political action committees, showed that physician donations jumped from $20 million to $189 million in just over two decades.

Researchers also found that doctors increasingly put their money behind Democrats, and that men made up the majority of Republican supporters, while women tended to give their money to candidates on the other side of the aisle. Doctors employed by for-profit groups were also more likely to lean more conservative than physicians who worked for nonprofits, and surgeons were also more likely to support the GOP than pediatricians, who were more inclined to back the Dems.